^june'igi^™'  ^    Review  of  Advances  in  Pharmacy.  363 
this  particular.  It  was  found  that  this  solution  is  absorbed  by  the 
dressings,  which  are  then  glued  by  the  wound  secretions,  which 
cause  pain  and  injury  when  the  dressings  are  removed  or  changed. 
It  was  also  noticed  that  paraffined  lace-mesh  gauze  does  not  prevent 
this. 
Such  results  were  particularly  conspicuous  in  the  case  of  the 
very  painful  and  slow  healing  "  mustard  gas  "  (dichlorethylsulphide) 
burns  that  came  under  the  doctor's  observation.  When  such  burns 
get  to  the  ulcerative  stage,  they  become  so  sensitive  that  they  have 
tp  be  proteced  by  thick  petrolatum  dressings,  especially  at  night. 
As  such  dressings  give  protection  to  the  bacteria  as  well  as  to  the 
tissues,  they  are  particularly  undesirable.  Infection  flourishes  and 
healing  is  delayed.  It  was  hoped  to  obviate  this  either  by  alternat- 
ing the  antiseptic  and  protective  dressings  or  by  applying  a  petro- 
latum dressing  to  the  wound  after  it  had  been  painted  with  dichlora- 
min-T-chlorcosane  solution  (generally  of  2  per  cent,  strength). 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  dichloramin-T  is  gradually  de- 
stroyed by  ordinary  petrolatum  it  was  hoped  that  the  destruction 
would  be  so  slow  that  some  of  the  antiseptic  would  last  from  the 
one  dressing  to  the  next.  This  was  not  realized.  This  conclusion 
led  to  a  more  detailed  investigation  of  the  destruction  of  dichlora- 
min-T by  petrolatum  and  various  other  solvents.  The  result  was  a 
special  petrolatum  medium  which  was  found  to  be  sufficiently  com- 
patible with  dichloramin-T  for  surgical  purposes,  so  that  it  may  be 
applied  either  mixed  directly  with  the  dichloramin-T  or  as  a  protec- 
tive dressing  over  the  dichloramin-T. 
Dr.  Sollmann  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  liquid  and  semi- 
liquid  mixtures  of  petrolatum  with  active  drugs  are  not  subject  to 
the  same  limitations  as  is  the  incorporation  of  these  drugs  into  solid 
paraffin.  Solid  paraffin  prevents  adequate  contact  of  the  mass  of 
the  antiseptic  with  the  wound.  On  the  other  hand,  he  says,  the 
layers  of  liquid  and  semi-liquid  mediums  in  contact  with  the  wounds 
are  continuously  changed,  so  that  good  contact  is  secured. 
The  rapidity  of  destruction  or  deterioration  of  dichloramin-T 
in  various  solvents  was  estimated  by  the  changes  in  the  "  available 
chlorine,"  occurring  at  successive  periods  in  solutions  or  mixtures 
containing  originally  two  per  cent,  of  dichloramin-T. 
This  was  done  by  the  method  mentioned  in  "  New  and  Non- 
official  Remedies,"  1918,  p.  158.    To  duplicate  5  Mil  or  5  Gram 
